JESUS SAYS
Explaining the Gospel message
DEPOSIT PHOTOS
‘I am the Resurrection and the Life’ By Father Brady Williams, SOLT
T Contributor
here is a parish on the northeast side of Houston, where I grew up, called Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus: Friends of Jesus. This title expresses so beautifully the special relationship that Jesus had with these three siblings. They were truly his friends and we can imagine that he frequented their home and enjoyed their company. St. John’s Gospel, in fact, tells us that Jesus “loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (Jn 11:5). Martha, we know, was very attentive to hospitality and Mary would sit at Jesus’ feet enjoying “the better part.” They lived in Bethany, only a few miles from Jerusalem. The Gospel of John Chapter 11 tells us that Jesus received news that Lazarus was sick and dying. All of us during this time of the pandemic have received news of a loved one or friend that has become deathly ill. Surely, many of our prayers reflect the plea for help Jesus received from these friends: “Lord, [Lazarus] whom you
love is ill” (v.3). The expectation of Martha and Mary would have been that Jesus would have come immediately and would have healed Lazarus of his fatal illness. However, Jesus delays! When Jesus does make the journey to Bethany, Martha and Mary meet him on the way and tell Him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v.21; 32). Any of us who have been faced with the death of a loved one have felt like these two sisters. We too could say: ‘Jesus, if you would have come, if you would have been here, my mom/dad, brother/sister, my friend would not have died.’ It is at this moment that we find the shortest verse in the entire New Testament: “Jesus wept” (v.35). Yes, Jesus sees our tears, our sorrow, and our pain in these moments of loss. Our sorrowful heart moves His Most Sacred Heart. Yet it is also here, in this moment of tremendous pain of heart, that Jesus speaks to Martha – and us – those most powerful words: “I am the resurrection and the
M AY T H E Y A L L B E O N E
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SPRING 2021
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